Behind the scenes key volunteers and staff are handling a lot, from digitizing the archives to AV production, from shipping and mailing to transcriptions, prisoner correspondence, and more.
Tom Hoffman, on staff since 2008, is the face most usually behind the camera, and the production of all of the video recordings you see on the website, Youtube, and beyond. He is overseeing an ambitious project to digitize all the old tape from the pre-digital era, and also recently has been making strides into the world of AI to help repair poor quality or damaged media.
"I think it’s such a rare privilege to be here, now with Gangaji; the living embodiment of the long, maybe thousands of years, lineage of realization that the Truth is Always right Here. I feel incredibly lucky. I cannot imagine wanting to be in any other situation."
Below are a few of the faces who help keep things in motion:
From Left to Right
Melissa Fischer, a local volunteer who's been coming into the office 3 days a week since 2016 to work on digitizing old Hi-8 tape.
Bob Hoffman, (yes he's related to Tom), volunteer AV assistant at many in-person events.
Purpose Built storage for Hi-8 tapes that go back to some of Gangaji's very earliest meetings.
Joanna Jackson, transcriptions team manager for the past 8 years. The goal is to create a transcript of every meeting Gangaji ever held. Joanna has also spear-headed our transition to using AI for transcribing. But it still take the eyes and hands of a dedicated volunteer to make each transcript perfect.
Behind the Scenes at an event. Tom Hoffman at the controls of a three camera shoot.
Diana Button, our Correspondence Manager. Diana is responsible for paring volunteers with prisoners who would like to correspond, and providing support to the team.
Gangaji drops by the office to check her mail. She receives many letters from all over the world.
The steady volume of requests for books and course materials, as well as prisoners' correspondence with volunteers, is all handled by our shipping team. Volunteer Sutra Robinson make sure the mail goes out every week.
Our office in Ashland is where most of the staff work, and where we hold Gangaji's small group retreats and other volunteer and donor events throughout the year.
“This is your resting place, your watering hole. Find what supports you, what includes you, and drink it in. Be nourished. Be enlivened. And when you feel thirsty again, drink some more.” —Gangaji
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"I have found writing these letters to a prisoner to be a most intimate and deepening act of love towards myself, as well as a way of appreciating and acknowledging our shared human beingness."
"I can't imaging a better way to serve. It is such a privilege. I feel that I am standing behind Gangaji, putting my resources into her use of her words." Get Started